Principal Software Engineering Manager
Microsoft
Security represents the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all. We want to reshape security and empower every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them with end to end, simplified solutions. The Microsoft Security organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate. Our culture is centred on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.
This is a Research Efficiency Platform team which provides leadership, direction, and accountability for Security Researchers tools and platforms, CICD, AI/ML, Virtualization and infrastructure, and secured development standards. You will help conduct business reviews and operate our production services. Strong collaboration skills will be required to work closely with other engineering teams to ensure services and systems are highly stable, performant, and meet the expectations of internal and external customers and users.
We are looking for a Principal Software Engineering Manager to help us design, architect and build large scale platforms, cloud services and engineering systems. You will work in collaboration with other Engineers, Researchers, Data Scientists and Architects to continue to learn and build your skill sets on how to innovate the design approach of said pipelines and services.
Responsibilities
People Leadership
Build and lead a high-performing team of senior/principal engineers focused on security researcher productivity and platform capabilities
Mentor engineers through complex technical challenges and career growth, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration
Drive engineering excellence and accountability while inspiring curiosity and continuous learning
Develop technical talent through hands-on coaching on distributed systems, cloud architecture, and platform design
Technical Leadership
Design and architect scalable platforms that accelerate security researcher workflows and productivity
Drive modern engineering practices: design reviews, code quality, data-driven decisions, and comprehensive testing strategies
Partner with security, infrastructure, and platform teams to build reliable, secure, and observable services
Remain hands-on with code: C#, Python, or equivalent languages; contribute to critical architectural components
Execution & Delivery
Establish roadmaps aligned with security researcher needs and platform priorities
Lead projects from ideation to production with focus on reliability, monitoring, and operational excellence
Troubleshoot and optimize Live Site issues; ensure robust logging, alerting, and automation
Navigate ambiguity in fast-paced environments through clear judgment and decision-making
Qualifications
Required
12+ years engineering experience with hands-on coding (C#, Python, C++, Java, or similar)
8+ years building large-scale systems or cloud platforms
4+ years managing senior/principal engineers with proven people development skills
Strong problem-solving, organizational, and leadership abilities (judgment, resolution, negotiation)
Preferred
Azure/multi-cloud platform development and deployment experience
Hands-on with PowerShell/Bash scripting
Experience building tooling and platforms for developer/researcher productivity
Background in security tools, sandboxing, or research environments
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.